Record data enrichment tools
Key Takeaway
Match the tool to the job. Lightning Data brings in third-party data, and Data Pipelines cleans and enriches large volumes of data inside Salesforce. A related list enrichment shows data from a Data Cloud data space as a related list on Account, Contact, or Lead records.
Data enrichment improves records you already have by adding information from another trusted source, so they become more complete, current, or useful. Salesforce offers several enrichment tools: Lightning Data, Data Pipelines, and related list enrichments.
When and why to enrich
You can enrich data as a one-time activity or as part of ongoing data stewardship. Common reasons to enrich are:
- Missing values in key fields
- Stale information
- Too little detail to make decisions
- Data that lives in another system but not where users need it
In the Salesforce Data Quality Management framework, enrichment is typically the third step, after profiling and cleanup. Cleanup deals with data that is unreliable or no longer relevant. Enrichment closes the gaps that cleanup alone can't fix. The framework is a guide rather than a strict sequence, so the steps can run in parallel.
Enrichment and prospecting serve different goals, even when one provider offers both. Enrichment improves existing records for known customers, partners, or accounts. Prospecting finds new people or organizations that are not in your systems yet.